The top two voter getters were Rob Rafferty and Dale Stoesz they will begin four year terms in January.
In 2017, residents of Lino Lakes will elect two city council members to serve four-year terms. To watch a debate featuring the candidates running for Lino Lakes City Council click here.
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About: Bill Kusterman is running for re-election to the Lino Lakes City Council. Bill, his wife Sharyn and four adult daughters have enjoyed living in Lino Lakes for the past twenty-one years. Bill is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas and holds a Master’s Degree in Taxation from the University of Minnesota. He is also a Certified Public Accountant who has worked with a large public accounting firm for the past twenty-five years. He currently serves as an Executive Director at this firm. Bill and Sharyn are St. Joseph of the Lakes Catholic Church parishioners (Lino Lakes).
Bill has a vocation to serve. He served the City of Lino Lakes for several years as a member of the Lino Lakes Park Board and has served the City since 2014 on the City Council. He brings business experience gained through his many years in a service-oriented environment where attention to detail, creativity and working with and among others have been required for success. He brings qualities such as thought leadership, honesty and integrity to the Lino Lakes City Council.
Bill hopes to serve the citizens of Lino Lakes for another four years on the Lino Lakes City Council.
Important Issues: The important issues of the City of Lino Lakes continue to be public safety, growth, maintenance of roads, maintenance of the environment and recreation.
Lino Lakes is a wonderful place to raise a family. Lino Lake’s citizens deserve to live in a safe community where growth, in terms of residential and commercial development and the pressures development puts on the environment and recreation are always in balance. For the common good, Bill Kusterman has brought his business experience and his “citizen” perspective to the decisions this City has made over the last several years. He hopes to continue to bring these perspectives as a Lino Lakes City Council member for the next four years.
Goals if Elected: Bill seeks a Lino Lakes that is a destination city. That is, a city that draws others to it and a city that all who live and work here are proud to call their own. This is accomplished by continuing to assure that the City develops responsibly and in a manner that allows for smart investments in public safety, the environment, road maintenance and recreation. Recreation is near and dear to Bill. In order to make Lino Lakes a true destination city, he believes we need to increase our investment in recreational opportunities.
Bill has a goal of continuing to bring effective thought leadership and integrity to the City and of enhancing/bettering a cooperative work environment between the City Council and City staff in order that both are equipped to serve the citizens of Lino Lakes in the best manner possible.
Endorsements: None listed.
About: Rob attended Moorhead State University on a Track scholarship and through an adjoining program at NDSU began under-graduate studies in Architecture before transferring to The University of Minnesota. He’s been apart of Rafferty Rafferty Tollefson Lindeke Architects a national recognized Architectural firm since 1978. He currently is Director of IT/IS services and is a minority owner for this firm that was established 1961. This year, Rob and his wife Amy celebrate their 28th anniversary. They have 2 children, James (24) and Julia (23) and a dog named Dakota. They have lived in the Pheasant Hills Preserve Community for over 20yrs.
Rob’s Community involvement includes:
3yrs – Youth Football – Coach/Assistant Coach
6yrs – Pheasant Hills Preserve Home Association – Treasurer/Secretary/Member
3yrs – City of Lino Lakes – Charter Commission Member
2yrs – City of Lino Lakes – Election Judge
8yrs – City of Lino Lakes – Planning & Zoning Committee, Chair/Vice Chair/Member
1yr – CYHA Bantum Hockey – Co-Manager
8yrs – City of Lino Lakes – City Council, Acting Mayor/Member
8yrs – City of Lino Lakes – EDAC Committee, President/Vice President/Member
8yrs – VLAWMO – Board of Directors, Treasurer/Secretary/Member
4yrs – Sons of American Legion Post 566 (SAL) – Member
2yrs – Miss Lino Lakes Ambassadors Program, Judge
Important Issues:
Give back “Tangibles”
Roads – the infra-structure of the city is roughly 100 Lineal miles that need a variety of care and upkeep annually. Although we have a program of review that highlights the best and worst and creates a plan for repair – it’s not enough to keep up. Our annual contribution needs more than the current approx. 550k.
Parks – are a product of new neighborhoods and they come with development. As part of the approval process, Lino Lakes “Park development phase” is now at the beginning of development. Yet as parks age, we need to re-invest in a design that complies with ADA standards.
Trails – we need to invest in the upkeep and creation of new trail to bring our neighborhoods of the north and south sides to the regional park – as well as our east and west communities back into the center of the city.
Goals if Elected: Provide the Lino Lakes Community with highest standards of Public Safety and Customer Services in the most cost efficient and effective manner. I will continue to always protect our cities landscape and growth, so that changes come with quality of development over quantity of development. For life and land isn’t about second chances. It’s about opening our eyes and treating what we have with respect, for we gain absolutely nothing if we don’t put “Assets” back for what is allowed to change in the community.
As a City, we have so much to offer our future neighborhoods and commercial development. But again, it’s about respecting what we have as a City and making sure as things develop – they do so to properly allow the City to age gracefully and withstand the true test of time.
Endorsements:
Craig Johnson, Senate District 38 BPOU Chair
Jeff Reinert, Mayor of Lino Lakes
Daniel Jones, VLAWMO Board of Directors Chair
About: I was born and raised in Anoka County and have been a resident of Lino Lakes for 12 years. I am married and have two wonderful school-aged children. I have always had a passion for serving others through different means. I proudly serve as a local firefighter/EMT, am an active member in our local church and spent time serving in the US Armed Forces. In addition, I have been in the engineering field for 26 years. This experience will prove to be an asset to a city council position. I look forward to expanding my contributions by selflessly serving our city and our residents for the right reasons, bringing leadership, integrity and a community mindset.
Important Issues: Public safety is one of the most important functions of our local government. Three years ago, we saw a significant change to our model. Those who have stepped into the public safety roles are very valuable and much appreciated! However, the result so far has been an increase in costs and decrease in service levels. I look to add value in steering this in the direction that will better serve our residents and community.
We need to shift the style of leadership to one that is about engagement, influence, and translating a vision to reality. Successful leadership embodies respect, integrity, transparency and courage. There won’t always be agreement and tough decisions will be necessary – but voices should be heard, opinions should be valued and communication should be open and two-way. Our city employees should have freedom and flexibility to make decisions for the greater good of Lino Lakes.
Goals if elected: In addition to addressing Public Safety and Leadership, another goal is to focus on Business Development. Lino Lakes needs to evolve how we attract the right businesses to our community. It’s important that we bring businesses that will enhance the everyday way of life of our residents. I plan to dig deep to understand what is important to our residents today and in the future, learn from surrounding communities that have been successful at creating public spaces that attract businesses and visitors, understand what barriers there might be today (i.e. city codes or existing infrastructure) and work collaboratively to develop a forward-thinking plan.
I also have the goal of opening up the dialogue with the Charter Commission to rebuild the relationship and start working collaboratively.
Endorsements: None listed
About: Jim Schueller is running for a seat on Lino Lakes City Council. Jim and his wife decided 13 years ago on Lino Lakes as the place to live and raise their family. He attended MN State Mankato where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business/Marketing while minoring in Political Science.
Jim is currently on the city’s Economic Development Advisory Committee. He has been a volunteer youth soccer, hockey and tee ball coach. He is looking for ways to continue helping in the community. He has signed up to volunteer in the school district this year and is considering obtaining a 2 year, short-term substitute teaching license.
During his over 25 years of management experience he has worked with budgets, negotiated contracts, and shown the ability to bring diverse groups together.
Important Issues: Jim is committed to improving our aging streets and roads, addressing the congestion in the highly traveled areas and make sure our parks and trails are maintained and updated. He wants to expand the business tax base. As the city grows over the next few years so will business opportunities. It is important to expand our commercial areas. Businesses that work with, not against our current community.
He understands the importance that city staff, council and the mayor hear the desires of the citizens and work for the common goal of what is best for the city. He feels strongly that any promises made to the citizens of Lino Lakes are to be kept.
Goals if Elected: In the next 5 – 10 years we should see our business tax base expanded. This, along with good projections would allow property taxes to stay low and level. You will see improved infrastructure. City parks well maintained and updated.
Endorsements: None listed.
About: Dale Stoesz is running for re-election for Lino Lakes City Council. He has 4 years of city council experience (2012-2015). He and his wife, Monica, have two children in the Centennial School district. Their son, a Centennial graduate, attends Baylor University. Dale has lived in Lino Lakes for 15 years and has been involved in local government since 2011. He is currently serving the community by being on the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) commission, trying to create a vision for what the city will look like in 2040.
He has spent his career employed by a financial institution working with bringing innovation and technology into the employees’ hands. His 20+ years of working in a Fortune 500 company has taught him how important it is to have a financial plan for the city. One cannot spend money one doesn’t have and one can’t have everything that one wants.
He has a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University. He and his family attend Bethlehem Baptist church. He recently received grassroots activist training with Americans for Prosperity Foundation where he learned many interesting facts about economic freedom and how important it is for the society.
Important Issues: Streets, parks, and trails: Having a reconstruction/development plan for our streets/parks/trails will lead the city to solidify our great assets. It will also mean we know where we are and where we want to go.
Storage of city equipment: Our city is currently going through an analysis on how to better store our equipment. Our vehicles need protection from the harsh Minnesotan weather. The city staff needs to be able to work in a building that is functional. They don’t need a 13 million dollar building for storage of equipment.
Our Economic Freedom: I believe that “Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.” ~The Law, Frédéric Bastiat. Dale would work to minimize obstacles to economic growth in our city.
Goals if Elected: Protecting our data. Dale’s background in technology and financial services will give him an advantage to understand what data is important and how to protect it. We need to learn from previous data breaches; ie Equifax, Target, Home Depot and make sure we are protected.
Protect our parks and trails. Dale would review the current parks plan and make recommendations on how to improve it.
Review our franchises. Dale would review franchises inside our city and make sure that they are beneficial to our citizens. Franchises need to be reviewed for financial benefit to our citizens. One would not expect government to pick your cell phone providers but yet the city government does just that for your cable providers using franchises.
Build a water tower. Lino Lakes’ water infrastructure is requiring a third water tower due to increased housing developments.
Endorsements:
Craig Johnson, Senate District 38 BPOU Chair
Jeff Reinert, Mayor of Lino Lakes
Rob Rafferty, Lino Lakes City Council